


She's Not There

by lanalucy



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Cross-Posted on LiveJournal, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Snark, Teasing, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-05 09:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4174626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanalucy/pseuds/lanalucy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Amnesty round at fan_flashworks.<br/>Prompt: haunted</p>
            </blockquote>





	She's Not There

He was haunted by her laughter - that infectious giggle she got when something really amused her. For the first year, he heard it everywhere. He’d turn around, expecting to see her bright smile, and there’d be nothing. Just like the day she’d disappeared.

He wondered if now they’d finally found Earth, he was losing his mind. All his touchstones were gone, and maybe he was just not all there anymore.

He fell asleep listening to breathing that wasn’t there. He woke up to hair tickling his nose, but when he opened his eyes, he was alone. Always alone.

Finally he decided he needed to just get away. Do what he’d told Kara he wanted to do. Explore. Climb mountains. He packed a backpack with his necessities, loaded up on water, and set out. He didn’t tell anyone. Didn’t leave a note. Didn’t think about the people he was leaving behind like Kara had left him.

He walked.

The first week was quiet. He was relieved by the silence, but at the same time, his chest tightened at the thought of never hearing her again. Last night, he’d resolutely turned to his side and recited the Colonial Constitution in his head. He hadn’t gotten through five articles before he was asleep. He woke to the sound of footsteps and the clink of a stick poking at a fire.

He lay there, staring up at the ceiling of the tent, refusing to believe.

“I know you’re awake. You gonna lie there all frakkin’ day, Lee?”

His blood raced. The goading tone left no doubt who it was. Only she’d ever been able to rile him up with just a look or a handful of words.

“Frak off, Kara. I know you’re not really here.”

She cackled. He smiled to himself. He missed her skewed sense of humor. She'd been a pain in the ass, but she'd been **his** pain in the ass.

“You’re a frakkin’ idiot, Leland Joseph Adama, but at least you’re predictable. Coffee’s hot. Get your ass up, drain your snake, and come get some.”

The ‘get some’ was laced with a hint of something else, and his pulse jumped at the sly innuendo. He’d love to get some, if she hadn’t frakking disappeared off the face of the godsdamn planet. Literally.

Still, this was more fun than he’d had in a while. “Make me.”

Footsteps, rustling at the tent opening, then she shoved in, blonde hair messily piled on top of her head. Had he ever seen her like that? He really was losing it. She held up a cup, waited for him to reach for it, then dumped it on his crotch.

He winced reflexively, then screeched, “Frak, Kara! That’s cold!”

She knocked him lightly on the head with the cup, and said, “Toldja to get up, Lee. Maybe next time you’ll listen.”

He grasped at her retreating arm, pulling her off balance. Her face tightened for a moment, so instead of going for the kiss that was his first instinct, he rolled her to her back, straddled her, and dug his fingers into her ribs.

Short minutes later, she was panting with laughter, calling him every name in the book when she could force a word out.

After a few more minutes, he squeezed a little tighter. “How are you here?”

She shrugged. “Never went anywhere.” Her mouth spread in a sly grin. “Not my fault your eyes don’t work like they used to. Must be getting old.”

He opened his mouth to refute it, but hell. It’d been a hard five years. Maybe he _was_ getting old.

She tilted her head a bit. “Coffee’s getting cold, Lee.”

He squatted back and hopped to his feet, offering her a hand up. “Where’d you find coffee, anyway?”

She curled her fingers into his. “We’re not the only people on this planet, and there are some amazing plants.”

“So you did go somewhere.”

“Only at night. When you were asleep.”

He pulled her closer. “I still wonder if you’re really here, Kara.”

She put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. She felt solid enough.

“Well, you can believe I am, or think I’m not. Either way, you’re right. C’mon, Lee. That mountain’s not gonna climb itself.”

They broke camp quickly, working together in comfortable silence. Lee shouldered the backpack, and Kara caught his hand as she kicked the ashes. “Let’s go explore, Lee.”


End file.
